Kerry Student Travels to Atlanta to Participate in the Broadcom MASTERS International Programme
Grace Ní Ifearnáin is a second-year student at Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí in Tralee. When in first year Grace entered SciFest@MTU Kerry and won the Best Project Award for her innovative research project investigating the effect of juglone on Japanese knotweed. This qualified her to participate in the SciFest National Final 2021 where she walked away with the Broadcom MASTERS International Award. Winning this award meant that Grace would participate in the Broadcom MASTERS International programme in Atlanta this May.
The Broadcom MASTERS International programme provides a unique opportunity for secondary school junior students from around the world to participate in an exciting educational programme, including hands-on science and engineering activities, visits to museums and science centres and the opportunity to attend the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Places on the programme are highly coveted with just 22 delegates representing 19 countries, regions and territories invited to participate this year. It is the fourth consecutive year a SciFest student has been invited to participate.
Grace travelled to Atlanta with her Mum Catrina and the SciFest STEM Champion Clare Reidy, a sixth-Year student from Our Lady’s Bower Secondary School in Athlone. Clare was representing Ireland and SciFest at Regeneron ISEF 2022. It was an action-packed week for Grace with visits to the Georgia Tech, the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, the Museum of Design (MODA), the Georgia Aquarium and the Mercedes Benz Stadium. There also was an opportunity to view the Regeneron ISEF finalists’ projects and to attend the ISEF official opening and the award ceremony.
During the week Grace made lots of friends. There were delegates from Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Zimbabwe, Thailand, Michigan, California, Czech Republic, Mexico, Malaysia, South Africa, Georgia, Egypt, Spain, Northern Ireland, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, and India. The students were all presented with Broadcom MASTERS hoodies and tee shirts and at the end of the week each student was presented with an Amazon Kindle.
This was an unforgettable experience for Grace, and we would like to thank Broadcom MASTERS and The Society for Science for inviting SciFest to nominate a student to be part of this wonderful programme. We would also like to say well done to Grace who participated with enthusiasm in every part of the programme. We couldn’t have selected a better delegate.